Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone! Its very nice to be here. I just got a new whites about two weeks ago... I think she is a girl....anyways...on to the question. When I got her from the pet shop, youy could tell that she was not in the best shape. She looked very sickly from the get go. Its kind of the reason why I bought her. I want to help her out. I've got her and my other whites together in a twenty gallon critter cage, with some moss, some nice sized branches, logs, fake foilage, a really nice, rock like water bowl, and two cave like shelters for them to sleep in. Anyways I have yet to see my new girl eat and,well I'm staring to get worried that she will die soon if she dosent eat soon. I've tried putting her in a clean rubbermaid alone with dusted crickets, but still no luck getting her to eat. I've offered pinkie mice to her, but, bope she just wont eat. Is there anything I could do to get her to eat? Should I force feed her? If so how do I go about doing it the proper way? Should I offer any other types of foods aside from the normal dusted crickets and pinkies? Ps are there any artificial ways to induce normal feeding behavior besides force feeding?

PLEASE HELP...Thanks to all those who reply...Stephen

OK.. First a few questions..
What is the temp in the cage? Or atleast room temp that the cage is in? Do you have any lamps on the cage for heat?
Do you know the humidity of the tank? Do you mist it often?

Ok, now.. With you having a suspect animal, I would seperate it from your other frogs immediately. You should never add new frogs to your existing animals right away. Whites are often wild capture, and ALL wild capture animals have parasites.. some are harmful, some aren't. You should keep it seperate and monitor it for a month or 2, just so you do not jeopardize the health of the other animals.

Next, How many whites do you have in the critter cage? and are they full grown? As a rule of thumb, you should have 20gallons for the first white, and an additional 10gallons per frog after that. So.. if you have 3.. you 20 10 10.. or a 40 gallon tank.
If you have alot of animals in a small space, sometimes they can become imtimadated by others in the group, and not eat as a result.

Now.. what I would do, is set up a different tank (a 10gallon would be ok, as it will only be temp - 6-8weeks) with some plants and wood. Put the new frog in there, make sure to keep the tank clean, warm and moist. Put some crickets in there and see what happens. It may take a few days. But hopefully it will start eating.

If it doesn't start eating.. You may have a pre-existing condition, that may or may not be fixable.

If you do loose the animal, I would not beat yourself up over it. Alot of times you get a new frog, especially if it is WC, it is sick when you get it.. (maybe that is why it was caught in the first place.. or not well due to the rough shipping process).

ALSO, here is a great care sheet on Whites.. read it, then read it again.. enjoy your frogs! Hopefully it will work out for you.
WHITES CARE SHEET

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photos.xtremecombatsports.com

Tim thanks very much for the kind words of wisdom. That care sheet is more than helpful. I will set him up a new cage tonight...

Oh BTW the temps have been a steady 75 in the cage during the day and maybe a few degrees lower in the night. I do not have a heat lamp persay, but I do keep a regular incandescent light on them during the day. I bought a moonlamp last night and they seem to love it. Plus it looks really damn cool. I offered night crawlers to them last night but nothing again...
Many thanks I appreciate it very much.

Long live the frog!!!!!!!

Hey you guys, Great news... She has started eating again. Tim I took you advice and got a little temperary 10 gallon to put her in and, I seen her eat for the first time last night. She acts like a different animal in her new setup. I went and got some kick a## wood for her down at the river the other day. I sterilized it in the oven, of course. I am using a substrate of moss. I have still yet to see her turn green though. She is a beautiful color of purple and red though, but I'd like to see her turn green. Is the colors they show directly related to one thing or another? Or is it just relative? Thanks so much tim I owe you one brother...